Large scale information technology (“IT”) organizations such as those typically found in enterprise-class organizations and service providers, have embraced virtualization and cloud computing as mechanisms for providing various computing services to users in a more efficient and manageable manner. Virtualization techniques transform a physical computing component, such as a physical server, into multiple “virtual” components. Cloud computing techniques allow an IT organization to host and deliver applications in the form of services to users over a network. Virtualization and cloud computing concepts typically require an IT organization to run numerous applications on hundreds or even thousands of virtual components that are located on or otherwise associated with globally disparate physical resources. As a result, time-consuming and labor-intensive coding is required to enable the IT organization to understand the characteristics and behaviors of its virtualized computing components in relation to its physical resources and/or applications.